BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Searchers took
advantage Saturday of a break from recent stormy weather in their hunt
for a former
Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings, patrolling
a mountain resort town in heat-sensing copters and fanning
out on foot in fresh snow even as vacationing families and weekend
skiers frolicked nearby.
The stark blue skies that emerged after a
Friday snowstorm allowed San Bernardino County sheriff's choppers to fly
low over
the forest and SWAT teams to look for tracks and other clues that
might lead to Christopher Dorner, 33, whose burned out pickup
truck was discovered Thursday in town.
Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of
attacks in Southern California over the past several days that left
three people
dead, including a police officer. Authorities say he has vowed
revenge against several former LAPD colleagues who he believed
cost him his law enforcement career.
The intense manhunt Saturday didn't appear to bother the majority of tourists intent on enjoying the perfect winter weather,
which made for strikingly odd contrasts: the sound of barking bloodhounds mixed with rap music blaring off the ski slopes;
a family with kids strolling by a deputy, who was clad in full tactical gear and practicing his aim on a small snowdrift.
San Bernardino County sheriff's Det. Chad Johnson said he and others were intent on finding Dorner but also looking for other
telltale signs of his whereabouts.
"There's a million clues in the mountain. You've just got to be patient to find them," Johnson said.
Johnson said the foot search includes mountainous areas that are very steep and high climbs that often end in cliffs.
"It's a challenging day of work," Johnson said.
The search was the third full day of the
massive multi-agency effort now centered on this resort town about 80
miles northeast
of downtown Los Angeles. Investigators continue to analyze the
burned out truck discovered Thursday on a local road, and are
trying and determine whether Dorner torched it or if it caught
fire for other reasons.
Officers armed with semi-automatic weapons have been going door to door examining hundreds of vacant cabins, aware that they
could be walking into a trap set by the well-trained former Navy reservist who knows their tactics and strategies.
"Christopher Dorner is probably one of the most dangerous fugitives that law enforcement has gone after in recent times,"
said Clint Van Zandt, former supervisor of FBI's profiling unit. "The challenge is, with his law enforcement and military
background, he's very competent with weapons."
Sheriff's Det. Jeremiah MacKay, who began his patrol at 5 a.m. Saturday, said the operation was both massive and tactically
complex.
"This one you just never know if the guy's going to pop out, or where he's going to pop out. We're hoping this comes to a
close without more casualties. The best thing would be for him to give up," MacKay said.
Police said officers still were guarding
more than 40 people mentioned as targets in a rant they said Dorner
posted on Facebook.
He vowed to use "every bit of small arms training, demolition,
ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare"
to the LAPD and its families.
Dorner served in the Navy, earning a rifle
marksman ribbon and pistol expert medal. He was assigned to a naval
undersea warfare
unit and various aviation training units, according to military
records. He took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment
to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.
Last Friday was his last day with the Navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note
on it that read, in part, "I never lied." A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a
souvenir was also in the package.
Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.
On Sunday, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the
daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.
Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.
Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD
officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously
wounding the other.